Zorua
by Grimm-Inuoka004
Summary: Touko's journey starts off like every other new trainer's; getting their first pokemon. However, due to a few circumstances, Touko's new partner turns out to be a very special Zorua. N hopes to carry out his duty as King and free every Pokemon from humans. Though he is a monster made from humans, he will also be the catalyst for an idealistic world. AU
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

_Natural Harmonia, four years old._

"So, I've heard that your father was involved in the Mewtwo Project." a deep gruff voice said as a lone red eye kept a close watch on the child playing with a new batch of pokemon. Standing beside the owner of such a voice was a young man looking to be in his early twenties. He wore a lab coat with his long, black shoulder length hair covering most of his features leaving only his nose and mouth visible. He said nothing to the older man and continued to watch the smiling child play and talk with the shy creatures. Ignoring his silence the man continued, "I take it you know what to do from here, then?"

"Of course. Everything has already been prepared beforehand." the scientist quickly answered.

"You are certain the process will not kill him?"

"There is a very small chance the procedure could go wrong." he turned away from the scene of the light atmosphere to face him. "However, I must be sure you want to do this. He is your son after all, Mister Ghetsis."

"The man smirked seeming not the least bit disturbed of the situation the young boy in front of him would soon be in. "If what you predict is true, Oblivion, then doing otherwise would be useless to my work. A mere trainer you said, would destroy everything by corrupting my son's mind, but by doing this he will surely fall to my power indefinitely." he chuckled at the thought before calling out to the boy. "Now, do just as I have instructed you to, by any means necessary and make no mistakes. This is a vital asset to everything that Team Plasma stands for."

Oblivion said nothing as Ghetsis turned to leave him in the company of the child and his pokemon friends.

"He-hello..." a small hand tugged at the edge of his coat as the green haired child looked past him to see where his father could have gone. Out of instinct, the young man bent down to be at level with him. Dull colored blue eyes stared at him with all the innocence of a child's unblemished mind, so unlike all those that surrounded him. It made him feel almost sorry for him. "Where did my father go?" he asked quietly with a regular looking Zorua right by his side. When he glanced at it, he could instantly tell that the small pokemon did not like him by the way its eyes narrowed when he met its gaze.

"Your father went to go take care of some business, but..." he paused after he saw the child look down at his friend in disappointment. "He told me you like to play with pokemon. Is this true?" The child quickly lifted his head at the mention of pokemon and stared at him, wondering if he should answer.

"I have a few friends that I would like you to see." he placed a single finger close to his lips and hushed his voice. "It'll be a secret between the two of us."

Soundlessly, three seperate distortions of space opened up above Oblivion's head startling both the boy and the Zorua. From the distortions, three small forms of what looked to be letters slid out in a slow circular motion, spiraling around the expressionless man and chattering lively with the vocals of small children making incoherent sentences and laughing happily. The child smiled at them while the Zorua hesitantly sniffed at the air towards them, unsure whether to call them friends or enemies.

"N, I would like you to meet a few of my closest friends." he gestured to the oddly shaped pokemon without the slightest hint of a smile on his lips. "They are called Unown."

The first to approach him was one that was shaped like an 'L' followed by another in the shape of a 'V' and finally one that resembled an 'E'; all of which circled and danced above his head. N's smile widened at the sound of their voices calling out to play. They sounded soft and without any indication that they have ever been hurt by humans.

"Do you like them, N?"

"Mm-hm! Would it be alright if I could take them to meet the other pokemon?" he asked shyly.

"Of course, I'm sure they'd love to meet them."

The Unown laughed excitedly and followed N to meet with the small group of pokemon waiting by the basketball hoop. Curiously, they approached a Darmanitan who had two Patrats hiding behind it in fear. Beside it was a Purrloin and a Pidove; they all reacted the same way as Zorua, suspicious. The Unown all danced and spoke lively to them until at last the Darmanitan smiled in approval, fully convinced they meant no harm and wanted to join in their fun. One by one, the pokemon quickly warmed up to the Unown despite the fact that they came with a human. All except for Zorua who simply went along with the flow, careful not to get too close.

They were all playing a game with the basketball while Oblivion watched quietly from a distance, leaning against the doorway until the Unown stopped to speak with N.

_"Hey N, we want to play a new game!"_ one of the Unown said a little softly.

"Okay, what game do you want to play?" he went to go towards a large box filled with various other toys, but was stopped when he felt his body lift from the ground. Startled, he shot his head up to look up at all of them surrounding him, their eyes glowing a light shade of blue. Zorua growled lowly at them, daring them to make another move, but the odd pokemon ignored him.

_"All you need is one of your friends to play!"_ they said in unison.

He blinked in confusion and turned his head to glance at the other pokemon. "Only one?" he asked a little sad that he had to choose who would play. "Can't we all play?" the Unown stilled in their circular dance to move their body the same as one would shake their head in the negative.

_"Oblivion says only two are allowed."_

He didn't understand what they meant, but he didn't think much of it and quickly chose Zorua since he has stayed with him far longer than the others. Zorua's ears perked up at his decision as the child was lowered back on the ground so he could scoop him up in his arms. He followed them back towards their own human friend.

Without a word to them, Oblivion turned away to lead the two down a long hall while a Plasma member silently closed the door behind N and followed behind.

"Where are we going?"

Ever since he could remember, N was not allowed outside his room. The familiar, yet new surroundings both excited and intimidated him making him tighten his grip around Zorua. Said pokemon barked out a demand to the hovering Unown, but he was only answered with a series of laughs as they accended to twirl above Oblivion's head in a dance.

They soon came upon a door with faded markings at its surface. It opened automatically with Oblivion entering first. Despite Zorua's warnings and growls N kept his eyes on the pokemon only to witness them pass through the same dimensional openings they had come from.

"Hey..."

Cautiously, N went past the door scanning through the dark and seemingly cold room searching for the Unown that had said they would play with him. Zorua wiggled restlessly in his arms and jumped down when he released him. Straying away a little, the fox pokemon sniffed at the clean tiles of the floor. All he could pick up was the scent of the Unown and other sorts of pokemon, barely a trace of any humans' which baffled him greatly. This was a place that humans usually roam, was it not?

"Zorua, would you mind coming over here?"

The sound of Oblivion's voice made his fur stand on end, sensing an unimaginable amount of danger in it. He snarled as the man came into view and continued to close the distance between them. He stopped just a step away from him, listening to words that could not be heard. After a moment or so, he sighed tiredly and lightly touched his head feeling a pain shoot through his head and a weight of fatigue fall upon him.

"Enough Zorua, I am much too busy to play with you." he closed that last piece of space, grabbing the scruff of his neck before the pokemon could even think of running to his friend. He barked loudly and twisted his body around to try and bite at the offending hand, but it was useless. "Don't worry..." he murmured lightly. "You'll be with your human friend real soon."

* * *

_Natural Harmonia, eighteen years old._

Lights of the once bright and lively playroom had dimmed; all over its walls were nothing but claw marks slashing through numerous clouds painted on them. Injured and hurt pokemon no longer entered to be healed, all of them returned back to members of Team Plasma to be used for the King. Sitting among the partially ruined room was a young man quietly trying to solve a colorful rubix cube. His arms were covered with black fur whereas on his wrist all the way to his hands only blue covered them. His nails had curved and grown into sharp claws. On his left hand rested three golden square-shaped bracelets, on his right was a black and white wristband; his whole upper body was bare and as for the lower portion there was nothing but pitch black fur, only his ankles and feet were the same shade of bright blue as his hands. Dull colored eyes followed the swift movements of the block as he twisted and turned it in every direct way.

A large black ear twitched just before the door to his room was slammed open and just as fast as a Liepard, he turned to face the man that had entered. Not a trace of emotion swirled within the depths of his eyes as the low laugh of his adoptive father flowed into his sensative ears.

"I believe its time to commence with our plan, don't you think, N?"

With a flick of his wrist on a switch, Ghetsis brightened up the room revealing the original place N had grown up with all the toys still intact and resting inside the same colorful bins. Scattered throughout the floor were various things, some whole and some not. All that was moving was the train running back and forth on its tracks. He remembered he used to play with countless pokemon, all of them fearing the same man that had taken him in and he couldn't quite understand if they were right about him. He was bad, he was evil; there was no love in his heart, he had hurt them, but in the end he was told that other humans had hurt them and later on as he matured, he even witnessed some of the harmful things humans made pokemon do.

They were forced to battle.

"Come, Oblivion will be leaving soon for Nuvema Town. Hurry up and get ready." he beckoned and N soundlessly did as he was told. Slowly as if time was of no importance he took a step forward as his father swiftly turned to meet with the Scientist; a shiny looking Zorua following close behind with the same wristband and bracelets clinking against its paws.

-X-X-X-

**A/N:**** You know what... I give... I tried to wait until I finished another story, but darn it all I couldn't... I was weak... Oh well, too late I already typed it and I'm impacient. So, getting down to business. This is JUST a Prologue, which explains the obviously short chapter and it means that there will be no immediate update in a week or so (possibly in two weeks maybe). But I simply love this idea and the chapters in the future are being written in a notebook, that's how much I love the story and couldn't wait. For now it seems a bit rushed and messy, but I think I got the whole point across (I don't know, sometimes I miss a few things). If not well, you'll find out next chapter.**

**But how 'bout you? What do you think? Review or not, this will be continued (I like it too much to delete). If one story gets updated another will too, simple as that for me. Till then~**


	2. Prideful King

**A/N:**** I apologize if you're not one to like very long chapters, but I seriously had no idea when to stop and simply had to settle with this. I admit I'm not very proud of it, but I am rather satisfied with this. Please excuse any minor mistakes there may be, it's difficult to keep track of, and do feel free to point out something if need be. The beginnings are always shaky for me (hopefully the story will get better over time), so constructive critizism is appreciated and reviews, but that is only if ya want to.**

**Chapter I: Prideful King**

The early hours of the day began to wake with the rising sun. Professor Juniper had already gone about with her job of delivering the new Pokemon to the mother of the most energetic of them all; Touya. From there the other two would recieve their new patners as well while the final one would still be in the process of getting ready. She went up to a machine holding a single red and white Pokeball and plucked it from the humming object. The Minccino that had acted as her assistant inspected the capsule with a critical eye while perched on her shoulder. It smiled and let out a sound of approval at the clean sight of the Pokemon staring back at them from within the ball.

"Alright then little one, you should be just about ready to meet your new trainer." she said happily as she pressed the button to do another quick inspection of its health and stats. "Okay, I think you're all good to go, don't you think Mincinno?" the small chinchilla Pokemon nodded happily as it dusted off the dirt clinging on its fur. She smiled kindly at him as she took the Pokeball and was just about to press the button until a knock came from the door. No sooner had the sound come did the person enter with another Pokemon following behind.

"Hello there," she greeted with a suspicious look at the sight of a slightly old and torn lab coat the stranger wore. "Is there anything I can help you with, sir?" she asked as she made sure to get in front of the young Pokemon while her Minccino quickly took its place on her shoulder, a frown placed on its usually cheerful face. The man made no quick response, instead he took a moment to look around the small lab to which she in turn took a moment to glance at his Pokemon; a shiny Zorua.

"Yes. This wouldn't happen to be Professor Juniper's Lab, would it?" he asked softly. She blinked at him before smiling despite the odd aura the man seemed to give off; it was cold and very uncomfortable. It almost felt inhuman.

"Yes it is and I'm Professor Juniper." she gestured to herself and tried to keep up the positive expression despite the stranger being intimidatingly taller than her. The man raised his head to expose one cold looking eye the color of fading black. "How can I be of assistance, Mister..."

"My name is Oblivion; I was a Scientist originally from the Kanto region. I had heard that there were to be some starter Pokemon distributed to a couple of new trainers. I would like to trade this Zorua for one of them if that would be all right with you." he motioned a hand to the standing Zorua who stared blankly at her with a neutral expression.

"Oh well, unfortunately I've already given most of the Pokemon I had to them except for one, but..." she looked down to the Pichu that was clutching at her ankle shyly. "I'm not sure about giving that one away. It's just hatched from its egg not too long ago, you see, and well..." she sighed unable to find the words to speak as the issue was rather delicate. If anything happened to the Pokemon left in her care, she would be responsible for it.

"I understand. Simply trading with a stranger you don't even know would be enough reason to be hesitant, but I assure you I mean no harm. In fact, if you are not so comfortable to trade, I ask that you at least allow this Zorua to stay here and see if the trainer remaining would like to have it. I have already obtained enough information that I needed for my research, yet I believe that this Pokemon would be better suited with a trainer. Poachers are of course no strangers to the wild where these creatures roam."

The Professor thought carefully over his words and after a minute or so she nodded her head. "Okay, I don't think that'll be much of a problem for me, but if the trainer doesn't choose him?" He already foresaw her question and wasted no time in answering.

"If there is no trainer willing to take him, then I'd like to ask you to hold him until he is able to find someone. Zorua is a very intelligent Pokemon and I'm sure it won't be long until someone comes for it. I wouldn't have bothered to come if he enjoyed my company, but I've never had much luck with Pokemon. They don't seem to like me much." he explained with a weak chuckle.

"Is that so, well then I guess I'll just have to help you." she laughed and he slightly lowered his head in a bow.

"You have my gratitude for this, Professor- ah..." he quickly shot a sharp gaze at the light weight falling against his pant leg. His eyes widened from within the shade of his long hair at the sight of the Pichu clutching to him. It softly called out to him shyly with a small smile. The Zorua stared at the Pichu in mild disbelief as it continued to call out to him.

"My goodness, I think there's one that likes you." the woman giggled as she watched the young Pichu move away to retrieve its Pokeball from her. It quickly scurried back to him while balancing the ball on its head and jumped up with it in its paws, trying to get him to take it. "I suppose that settles this little discussion." she hummed as she took a pen and checked off the box next to Pichu's name on a clipboard.

"Are you quite sure of this, Professor?" he asked as he stared at the Pokemon imploring him to take it along with him.

"Of course. That Pichu wouldn't get near anyone when it first hatched and would often cry. Now that she seems to have taken a liking to someone, who am I to take her away from you? It'll be fine as long as she's happy."

"But what of your own research?" he wondered, never taking his dull gaze off of the playful mouse.

"Right now, my research is focused on the pokemon of this region and besides, I've already gotten info on her species from a friend overseas."

Oblivion went silent for a moment, considering whether or not he should take the Pokeball and allow it to come with him. He heard a small voice in the back of his head laugh at him as he fought to come to a decision. Hesitantly, he kneeled down to face the small mouse Pokemon and gently took the Pokeball from it making it squeal in delight and immediately hugged him. It chanted its name to him, seemingly speaking to him excitedly with words only he and the Zorua could understand. He sighed and held the happy Pichu in his arms, bowing once more in gratitude while sparing a glance to the fox who seemed to glare at him. As he straightened up, he reached into his pocket and took out a beautifully crafted crimson Pokeball. "Please give this to the trainer that will take Zorua. It is no different than a regular Pokeball and is quite rare, but I've no use for it." he placed it in her palm and promptly turned to take his leave. "See you around." he murmured, but his voice sounded void of the feelings the words should have held.

Zorua stared at the man with a cold look before turning its attention back to the woman and her cautious Minccino.

"Okay then Zorua, let's get you checked out and ready for your new partner seeing as that Pichu has already settled on Oblivion." she smiled kindly at him, but he made no move to get closer. "A Cherish ball... I wonder how he got a hold of this. They're not exactly easy to get." she mused as she pointed the device towards him, but just as she was about to press the button the door slammed opened without warning, startling all three occupants.

"Professor!" a male voice called loudly. "There's one missing!" he shouted as he came to a halt in front of her, narrowly missing the Zorua at his feet. He looked to be sixteen years of age, wearing a red and white baseball cap with a logo of a black pokeball at the center. Over his shoulders was a black and blue jacket and standing beside him was an Oshawott; one of the Pokemon she had given, as he thrusted the empty gift box she had sent into her face. "You said there'd be enough for everyone, but there were only three!" the Oshawott shouted in agreement with his new friend and pointed an accusing paw at the Professor. Zorua stared dumbfounded at the two, but mainly kept his sight on the boy glaring at the Professor.

Juniper chuckled at the boy as the other three of his friends ran inside soon after. "There is enough Pokemon, Touya, I just had to make sure the last one was ready." Glancing down to the pouting water type at his feet she said, "It seems you and Oshawott are getting along quite well though." she smiled as she looked past him for the others. "Now let's see who doesn't have one..." almost immediately a girl was shoved in front of them.

"Ow, Bianca!" she whined as she rubbed the lower part of her back from where her giggling friend had pushed.

"Hello Touko."

"Hello..." she mumbled as she shot the small group a look.

"There has been a slight exchange with the last pokemon," she gestured down to where Touya was standing, to the Zorua that continued to stare at him. "This Zorua will be your new partner, although it hasn't been caught yet, so here." she pushed the Cherish ball towards her. "You'll be the one to catch it."

"Really?" she asked as she took a moment to inspect the crimson colored ball. "It's pretty..." she commented and then looked down to the small fox that eyed her best friend curiously. She noted the small wrist band it had on one paw and the three gold bracelets on the left. Judging from the black fur and a few books she read at home, it was a dark type; an odd choice for a starter, but it was still cute. "Are you sure it's wild? It looks like he was cared for by someone..." she was answered with a nod from the Professor, but it didn't really make her feel certain. "Zorua!" she called as she tossed the Pokeball at him.

Large black ears twitched at the sound of his name and instantly the Zorua turned towards the two girls, his eyes locking on to the one who called him. He heard the sound of the shifting wind and for a brief moment he felt a cold shiver rush through him in a spike of fear. He narrowed his eyes at Touko and stole a glance at the boy with the Oshawott before he swiftly moved out of the way of the red ball aimed at him, surprising everyone. This was not the plan, he wasn't supposed to get caught, he wasn't supposed to be imprisoned. He let out a loud bark at the two angrily, voicing his dislike for the contraption as it bounced away from the floor and fell back in her hands.

"Hey, what's wrong?" she asked. "Don't you want be friends?" she smiled at him, but he only responded with a show of bared fangs. He couldn't fulfill his duty if he was forced inside a Pokeball. Unaffected by the show of hostility, Touko kneeled down to be at level with him and reached out a hand. "Whatta'ya say?"

He suddenly felt something pat his back playfully. He snapped up his head to see Oshawott try and coax him to go to her.

_"It'll be fun!"_ was what he heard and all he could do was stare at him in astonishment. He shook his head lightly as if he had misheard him and then, before he could respond to anything, he felt something heavier and cold hit the top of his head. The Oshawott jumped away at the sudden flash of red light engulfing the Zorua and backed away slightly.

All he could see was red and struggled against the small cramped space. _'How is this possible?'_ he wondered fearfully and continued to fight until finally it opened with a burst of white light. He landed softly back on the ground and shoved the Pokeball away from him and back to Touko, successfully hitting her forehead. His fur bristled at the thought that he could have been imprisoned to do whatever this human wanted him to do.

"It didn't work." the boy with the glasses, Cheren, said. "Perhaps it doesn't want to be captured."

"But why not?" she wondered as she stared at the ball sadly as she rubbed the red spot on her head.

"It could take a while before Zorua becomes comfortable around you. The previous owner said he was rather difficult to handle, judging from the way he spoke about it." she patted her shoulder lightly and gently manuevered her towards a counter. "Here, a Pokedex for each of you. With this, you may be able to know more about your Pokemon and create a bond." she pointed the Pokedex towards Zorua and beeped as it immediately recognized the subject. The screen brightened and revealed a picture of another Zorua with different colors and spoke in a mechanical voice.

_**"Zorua, the Tricky Fox Pokemon, it changes into the forms of others to surprise them or to protect themselves from danger. It often transforms into a silent child. Zorua's moves are Leer, Pursuit, and Foul Play."**_

"No wonder he's being difficult. He's at a much higher level than these three and the other one. Pokemon that are at a higher level than their trainer can handle will often be difficult to train, so it'll be quite a while before Zorua will recognize you as its trainer."

"Hey wait a minute Professor," Bianca said as she leaned over Cheren's shoulder to look at the data. "Why is this Zorua red and not blue?"

As the Professor went about explaining the difference between normal Pokemon and shiny Pokemon, Zorua stared at Touya again and remembered what he was supposed to do as King. However, at the level of which his Oshawott was at, it would take no time to defeat him and it just wouldn't do to fight unfairly. He thought back to Oshawott's words and quietly tried to comprehend what he meant by fun; the adventure of roaming the lands or was it something else. Whatever the case, he supposed it wasn't him that was the target, but Touko. He had to be with her and prevent her capturing more Pokemon, without the help of the legendary Pokemon, Zekrom or Reshiram, she would be unable to stop the dream of Pokemon being freed from humans. Quietly with that in mind, he went to stand beside her as they switched to a different topic.

"Well, now that we got all that settled; would you like me to explain the basics of traveling?"

"Nah, we can handle ourselves just fine! Isn't that right, Oshawott?" the otter quickly nodded his head and shoved the scalchop in its paw towards the air in a show of confidence. Without delay, the two dashed straight for the entrance and ran towards Route one.

"Hey wait for us! Touya!" Cheren shouted. "C'mon Bianca, before he beats us!"

"Okay!"

"Wai-" before Juniper could call them back for one last thing, they had all left leaving behind Touko. She sighed, but couldn't really find any reason to be angry or annoyed except of course, her Minccino who grumbled at the mess they made and quickly began to tidy up. She laughed and turned back to Touko. "I was going to ask if they wanted to give their Pokemon a nickname, but I guess not. What about you, would you like to give Zorua a nickname?"

Just as she was about to answer, a small soft paw scratched at her exposed leg making her wince and look down. Zorua glared at the Professor as if wondering if it should do something, however, before either one of them could ask him, he transformed. A small alphabet building block took his place and etched at the center was a single colored letter; N.

"N? Is that what you want to be called?"

He quickly reverted back and nodded his head, his cold glare still in place. Touko simply laughed and complimented him in his choice. "It's rather unique, but it fits you quite well!" She reached down to pick him up into her arms only to have him back away and bark. "Still won't come, huh?" her smile turned sad, but she wouldn't allow that to bring her down. "Well, I guess I'll have to wait until you accept me then, huh?" N didn't respond, only watched her as she headed towards the door. "Thank you for the Pokemon, Professor!" she shouted before following after her friends with N going after her.

"I do hope things will go well for them." the woman sighed. Minccino made a sound of agreement, but didn't hold much enthusiasm in its voice as his owner did.

N finally caught up to Touko who stood at the entrance of the town, staring at the tall grass that hid various Pokemon. Some of them were probably not so friendly. He stopped near her foot and looked at her expectantly. She had an uncertain look on her face as if she was hesitant to leave her home. Confused as to why she would be so scared, N went forward and immediately disappeared inside the thick leaves.

"Hey wait for me!" This was definitely not how she thought her journey would start out. Sure she put on an easy going front in the beginning, but having close to no Pokemon was going to be tough. All she had was a single Cherish ball that was meant only for N, but he just wouldn't stay in. Getting frustrated, she decided that simply dashing through the grass would be easier. "If I just go straight I'll be in the next town in no time at all." going entirely by that logic, she took a deep breath and sprinted forth, unknowingly running past N.

"Hey!"

The strange soft voice managed to reach her ears, but in doing so she had looked away from her path. Before she could even question as to who that voice belonged to, she felt something collide with her foot. "Ah!" whipping her head to the ground, she saw a Patrat hit its head on the ground. "Oh no..." the Patrat quickly stood on its legs and growled at her, revealing the small throbbing spot on its head that almost matched her own from the Pokeball. "Uh..." she smiled nervously as she tried to calm the wild Pokemon down, but with each step she took back, the Patrat would take a step closer. Without warning, the creature dashed forward and slammed its shoulder into her abdomen.

Arms came to wound around her stomach as her body fell to the ground; no sooner had she fallen did she kick to move away from the Pokemon. It growled again as it prepared another tackle attack. Tears stung the corners of her eyes from the pain of her stomach, despite the struggle though she wobbled back onto her feet.

"For such a small Pokemon, you pack quite a punch..." she breathed out from the lingering pain. Before the Patrat could launch another attack, a black blur shoved it aside. It cried out mostly in fear at the unknown object and quickly scurried away into the forest that surrounded the town. Confused, Touko looked down to see N staring at her with a glare.

"That was stupid." he said with a snort.

"Well sorry for bein- Wait... Did you just talk?"

"I did."

"Since when could you talk?" she pointed a finger at him to which he merely looked away.

"Since the beginning of my life. You can talk can you not?"

For a small cute Pokemon, he certainly sounded much older. "But I've never heard a Pokemon talk, it's neat!" she plopped down to sit in front of him, completely forgetting she was in the path of wild pokemon should they come out.

"Pokemon can talk, too." he stated as if it was an obvious fact, but the only known Pokemon able to speak were either mythical or Psychic types. "Humans just don't listen." he mumbled as he turned away from her. "We are headed for Accumula Town, correct?" without another word, he transformed into a young boy with long light green hair and the same grey blue eyes. He wore a brown shirt with light colored shorts and kept the wristband and bracelets dangling from his small arms.

"You're going to come... like that?" she asked as she pointed at him. N only nodded instead of answering. "I swear if people start questioning weird stuff..." the rest of the words were reduced to incoherent mumbles. As they started through the grass and onto the road, Touko lightly gasped as a pain shot through her middle. N looked at her and tilted his head to the side in question only to have her wave a hand at him. "I think I ate too much for breakfast..." she lied. Soon enough they came to the entrance of the town. The teen breathed a relieved sigh as they headed straight for the nearby Pokemon Center.

From a small vending machine she bought a small bottle of fresh water and was about to offer some to N only to find the child/fox was no longer behind her. "N? Where'd you go?" There were other trainers and their pokemon around, but there was no sight of a child or a Zorua. With a aggravated sigh she ran out of the building and was just about to call out his name until a loud voice interrupted her.

It was a speech coming from an odd group of people with an older man at the center speaking to a crowd of people. "Touko!" snapping her head to the far left of the crowd she saw Touya waving an arm at her with Cheren. She smiled and quickly took a spot beside the two of them as they listened.

"What's going on?" she whispered to Cheren.

"Apparently, these guys believe that keeping Pokemon in pokeballs is keeping them from being happy. They think we should set all of them free." he huffed at the thought. "They're talking nonsense. If Pokemon are truly unhappy with their trainers then they could just leave." he crossed his arms as the spectacle soon came to an end.

"I hear ya. They make it seem like we imprison them like slaves." a burst of light broke through Touya's belt as Oshawott came out ranting. "Oshawott thinks so too, huh?" he picked up his Pokemon and laughed when it pouted at him with its scalchop aimed past him. Seeing the already close relationship, Touko let out a gasp and tugged at the strap of his blue bag.

"Oh wait! Did you guys see a kid around here?"

"A kid? You mean that one?" Touya pointed to N who stared in a daze at the Oshawott that moved to sit at the top of Touya's hat.

"There you are!"

"Touko, that wouldn't be the stubborn Zorua is it? You finally caught it?"

"Well, uh..." he quickly trotted over to them silently, letting the illusion of a child melt away as he looked up at the otter. "He just won't get caught." she rubbed at her forehead, remembering the ball hitting her. "Oh wait... You guys had a battle at your house, right? Why not have a battle with N?"

"You named your Pokemon after a letter?"

"Sure! Let's go Oshawott!" his Pokemon answered with an excited cry and bounced off his head, landing in front of N with a determined face. His opponent only stared at him with twitching ears, not even sparing Touko a glance as she took out the Pokedex from her own bag.

_**"Oshawott, the sea otter Pokemon, it fights with a scalchop and uses it as a blade. Oshawott's moves are Tackle, Tail Whip, Water Gun, and Razor Shell."**_

"We'll start first; Oshawott use Water Gun!"

Running up to the motionless N, Oshawott let loose a furious shot of water landing a direct hit on him. Despite the damage, he stood his ground and quickly shook away the water drenching his fur. Touko stood by nervously and wondered if she should shout a command. Instead, N quickly retaliated with Leer; glaring down at Oshawott forcing it to let down its guard. He followed through with Pursuit and dealt a severe amount of damage. "Hey Touko, what are you doing? You're not even giving a command."

"Uh well-"

"Hey, a battle's a battle." Touya countered and shouted another move. "Use Razor Shell!"

Jumping back onto its feet, Oshawott responded accordingly with its scalchop armed and ready to hit. Apparently, N must have said something because instead of dodging from it as he had planned, he stood still with a shocked look and ended up taking the hit. The blade had sliced through his mane, creating a shallow, yet long cut on his skin beneath the fur. He yelped and backed away, cringing with every movement his shoulder made. He growled lowly, but coudn't bring himself to do anymore as he watched Oshawott slowly return to Touya with a triumphant look. There was no loss, he knew that Oshawott wouldn't be able to take a hit of Foul Play, but he had had enough with his words that baffled him. Touya knew this, too.

"That was... interesting." the boy remarked softly as Touko gave him a look. "H-here. I think Oshawott got him pretty good with that last attack." taking her hand, he gave her a super potion. "Let's battle again okay?" he asked, leaning down to ruffle the top of N's head playfully.

"I'm not sure there's going to be a next battle." she muttered as she watched him pet N bitterly.

"You shouldn't worry that much about it. I'm sure he would have won if he had taken this seriously. All you have to do is get stronger yourself." Cheren patted her shoulder in support. "We should challenge the Gym Leaders; that ought to help you. The nearest one from here is the Striaton Gym."

"I don't know..."

"Nonsense Touko! If you don't do it, then how will you ever get Zorua to listen to you."

"His name's N..."

"Whatever! Come on, it'll be a piece of cake!" he suddenly appeared closer to her and pouted with his hands clasped together, his hat positioned a little to the side to make it look as if it would fall. "Please? Just one Gym leader and then see if you really don't want to battle."

Reluctantly, she complied with her friend and shook his hand as a promise. Before he went off on his own with Cheren ahead ofim, they promised to battle each other again. Touko waved at them until they left town just at the start of noon which meant there was only a few more hours until night came.

"His Oshawott..." startled to hear his voice again, Touko looked down at N who never took his eyes off of them.

"What was it that Oshawott said?" she asked, leaning down to apply the potion on his wound. Eyeing her warily as she moved his mane away to see the thin slash trickling a small amount of blood. She sprayed the liquid onto and winced when he bared his fangs at the stinging the potion caused.

N shook his head and instead of answering her, he asked her a question. "Does your stomach still hurt?"

She was surprised he even remembered and when she touched her abdomen she winced at how sensitive it became. N didn't miss her expression of pain and waited for her to suggest taking a rest. What she said next only made him more confused. "It's nothing so bad." she laughed off the bruise that had no doubt formed on her stomach and waved towards the exit. "I think we still have time to get there before nightfall, but I just have a favor to ask of you."

She took out the Cherish ball she had placed in her bag and moved to show it to him. "Can you please go in the pokeball? Just to rest for a little bit? I don't have any guaze to wrap up that scratch on your shoulder and I'd hate to have it get infected while we travel. So, please?" she asked with a small smile. N stared at her blankly and even scowled at the hand holding the device, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized it wouldn't do if he went and got sick just because he was careless.

Seeing that he really didn't want to go inside she looked inside her bag to see that it was still spacious. She clicked the ball to her belt and presented her bag to him. "Here, you can travel inside my bag instead if you're so against using a pokeball!" Startled that she took away the capsule, he peeked inside to see that there was only a change of clothing and other items with other purposes. Though it was a comfortable offer, N quickly turned his nose up at the bag and turned away. He turned back into a child and pointed to the exit.

"Let's get going. I want to battle the Gym leaders and the Champion."

* * *

"It seems everything went accordingly." he shrugged. "Even if there seems to be a mix-up in the pieces."

The Pichu looked up at the man and made a questioning sound to which he replied, "It has nothing to do with you, young one. Which reminds me..." he took out the Pichu's Pokeball and placed it on the floor. "You're free to go wherever you so wish. I don't believe you'd like to be in the hands of the people I'm associated with." he murmured. He turned to leave the area only to hear a soft mournful cry. He merely turned his head over his shoulder to glance at the small baby Pokemon and saw it trying to hold up its Pokeball.

It cried out again reaching to his leg and tugging at his pants. Its eyes were welling up with unshed tears as it spoke and tried to make him change his mind.

"No, I do not believe people and Pokemon could coexist; not after what we've done to you. Go and return to where you belong."

Pichu stayed where it was as the man continued to walk away deeper into the forest and away from the path of the road. It wasn't until he was near disappearing into nothing did Pichu cry out again and followed hopelessly after him. It tripped several times with the Pokeball still being held over its head and suffered a few hits of high roots to its head and thorns getting in its way. Finally it caught up with him and held onto his leg, dropping the Pokeball. A small sound escaped it as it continued its plea.

His head was beginning to hurt. He had to go back soon if he wished to cure it for the time being. "Alright, alright..." he sighed as he picked up both Pichu and the Pokeball. "Enough of your cries." he wiped at its tears and continued walking straight towards a giant distortion created from nothing.

-X-X-X-

**A/N:**** I'll look through it for mistakes later.**


End file.
